Inclusion of the strong interaction in low-energy hydrogen-antihydrogen scattering using a complex potential

The aim of experimentalists currently working on the preparation of antihydrogen is to trap it at very low temperatures so that its properties can be studied. Any process that can lead to loss of antihydrogen is thus of great concern to them. In view of this, we have carried out a calculation of the antiproton annihilation cross section in very low-energy hydrogen-antihydrogen scattering using a complex potential to represent the strong interaction that brings about the annihilation. The potential takes into account the isotopic spin state of the proton and the antiproton and the possibility that they may be in either a singlet or a triplet spin state. The results for the annihilation cross section and the percentage change in the elastic cross section due to the inclusion of the strong interaction are similar to those obtained in a recent calculation (Jonsell et al 2004 J. Phys. B: At. Mol. Opt. Phys. 37 1195), using an effective range expansion. They are smaller by a factor of 2 and 3, respectively, than those obtained in an earlier calculation (Voronin and Carbonell 2001 Nucl. Phys. A 689 529c), using a coupled channel method and a complex strong interaction potential.